


Reconciliation

by Winterlocksmith



Category: Homestuck
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-28
Updated: 2019-06-28
Packaged: 2020-05-28 17:05:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,387
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19398583
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Winterlocksmith/pseuds/Winterlocksmith
Summary: One of an infinite number of possible realities. In this one, Terezi Pyrope comes crashing down out of the sky.





	Reconciliation

It was a Thursday afternoon when Terezi fell from the sky.

Karkat was the one who found her, though this wasn’t much of a surprise. It would have been hard to miss the crater she’d left in his backyard anyway. He was there in an instant, eyes wide and frantic as he pulls her from the crater. She looked just as he had remembered she did, when she left all those months ago. But bruised, malnourished, looking as though she hadn’t eaten for days.

He scoops her up into his arms, despite her weak protests. She tells him that she’s fine, that’s she’s just a little hungry. He tells her to shut up and let him help her and for once, she obliges. He brings her into his home, a small place reminiscent of his hive back on Alternia, back on that planet that they had left all those sweeps -or should they say “Years” now?- ago. He carries her into his home and lays her out carefully onto his couch. 

The next twenty minutes are a blur of activity. Karkat rummages through his home, looking for bandages, for painkillers, for anything to help his bruised and battered friend. The crash had been harsh, leaving her jetpack smoking. Karkat had left it outside. Terezi insists that she was okay, that she just needed some water and some food. Almost reluctantly, Karkat stops fiddling with the first aid kit he’d fetched out of his ablution chamber and returns to her with what she’d asked. Meat cooked so rare it was practically raw. A tall glass of water, and then another. 

Terezi eats her fill, Karkat grilling her with questions all the while. He tells her how stupid it was for her to take off like that. To just launch off into space without so much as a plan, an idea of where to go. She tells him that she knew exactly what she was doing. That it was important that she find Vriska. He asks her why.

She is quiet, for a moment.

She tells him that Vriska was her friend. That she was important to her. That despite her faults, she made Terezi feel important, strong. That she was in many ways, some things that she herself had strived to be. Ruthless. Powerful. Cunning. Willing to do what she felt needed to be done, despite the potential consequences. 

Karkat tells her that she was wrong. That she was already just as strong, just as cunning. That she was a better person, a better troll, being who she was. He tells her that she is better than Vriska. That she has compassion and empathy. She was a better friend and that not knowing where she was going, that not knowing if she would be safe, or if they would ever see her again, made her friends worry about her. That it made him worry about her.

They are quiet for a moment.

He tells her that he missed her.

She nods. She missed him too. 

He tells her that he is sorry. That he was sorry that he’d fucked things up. Sorry that he wasn’t there for her more, that he wasn’t there to talk her out of leaving. That he’d let things get so out of hand. She chides him, tells him that it isn’t all about him. That her choices were her own, and not his to determine. He knows that. He knows that when she set her mind to something, there was no talking her out of it. That doesn’t change how he feels. It doesn’t change his regrets.

She asks him if that was all he was sorry for. If just not somehow keeping her from leaving is really what this was about. Now was his turn to be quiet. The air hangs heavy, the silence oppressive. For a few moments all that can be heard is the soft ticking of a clock in another room. Finally, he tells her no.

He wasn’t just sorry that she had left. He was sorry that they had grown so far apart. He was sorry for being so insecure with himself, that he had let jealousy and self-doubt drive her away. That he had sent her so many mixed messages back all those years ago, that he had driven her into the arms of another. He was sorry that he hadn’t been a better matesprit, that he hadn’t been there for her when she needed him. 

She tells him to shut up. She tells him that she knows about all of that, that it wasn’t a very well-kept secret how he felt. She tells him that these things happen. That he was an idiot, but an idiot that she still cared about. That of course she still cared about. He says that he’s happy she was there. He’s glad to see her again.

They were sitting next to one another now. Her hand was touching his, though neither of them know when they had gotten so close. Karkat’s hand slides further over her own, fingers lacing with hers. She rolls her eyes and asks him when he’s going to get his shit together and just kiss her. His face twists into a familiar snarl as he does just that.

She forces him onto his back, her hands pulling at his shirt. He growls as he pushes her up, breaking the kiss as he shoves her up against the arm of the couch. He tells her to just let him do this, to let him love her, to let him make up for lost time. She laughs, the sound sharp and familiar, and tells him to make her. 

At some point, their clothes had gone. They embrace, their bodies coming together, a lack of experience made up for by the incredible catharsis of releasing years of pent up frustration. All of it finally becoming unraveled, a tightly wound spring finally able to break free. She bites him and tells him he still tastes like cherry. He tells her he knows. He knows the bite will leave a mark, that it may even scar. He doesn’t care. 

They were far from gentle. Fighting to be on top, struggling to be the one setting the pace. Between heated breaths he tells her how much he loves her. That it wasn’t red or black but something else, that he had trouble finding the words for. She tells him to stop rambling, to not ruin the moment. And for once, he listens. 

Time passes, and eventually things slow down. The frantic movements, the biting, the clawing, these too eventually pass. They lay there, bodies hot, a thin sheen of sweat glistening on the both of them. The sun had long since set outside, the room dimly lit by the light from the kitchen. Their chests rise and fall, the loudest thing in the room is the sound of their ragged breathing as they try to catch their breath. Her head was on his chest, his arm wrapped around her. 

They break their silence, both starting to talk at the same time. Karkat shuts his mouth, insisting that she go first. They talk, their voices soft, a tone that neither was used to hearing, a tone that reminded them both of days gone by, the soft tone they’d only ever used during their quiet times together. They say what they need to say, each in turn.

He tells her he loves her.

She tells him she knows. She tells him she loves him too.

The world falls away from them, and everything goes quiet. They were there, together, at last. They didn’t know what the future held, couldn’t know what this would mean in the morning, or tomorrow, or the day after that. They just knew that for now, they had each other. That for a little while, things felt like they would be okay. 

Then, as quick as it came, the moment passes. Terezi makes a joke, Karkat starts grumbling. She laughs, and he rolls his eyes. The moment had passed, but they knew it was there. He mumbles that he loves her, and she simply laughs again. She already knows. 

He tells her that he’ll set up a guest recuperacoon for her.

She tells him that she’ll just sleep in his.


End file.
